Could Taking One of These a Day Actually Cut Your Skin Cancer Risk?

What kinds of medicines or supplements do you take in a day? If a daily dose of aspirin is on your list, you might be interested in the results of this new study. According to an analysis of the Women's Health Initiative observational study, postmenopausal women who took aspirin regularly reduced their risk for melanoma—and the longer they took it, the lower their risk (researchers found that women who took aspirin five years or longer had as much as a 30 percent reduction in melanoma risk). This is cool news, because lots of other research has shown that aspirin might be associated with decreased cancer risk in certain kinds of cancers, like gastric, colorectal, and breast cancer. And while the researchers underscore that these results apply to their test subjects—all older white women—they also say that the findings are an exciting piece to the puzzle. Obviously, like any medication, there are benefits and risks to taking a daily aspirin, and you should really do it only if your doc tells you to. Do you take aspirin? What's your medicine cabinet like? Photo: Thinkstock

What kinds of medicines or supplements do you take in a day? If a daily dose of aspirin is on your list, you might be interested in the results of this new study.

According to an analysis of the Women's Health Initiative observational study, postmenopausal women who took aspirin regularly reduced their risk for melanoma—and the longer they took it, the lower their risk (researchers found that women who took aspirin five years or longer had as much as a 30 percent reduction in melanoma risk).

This is cool news, because lots of other research has shown that aspirin might be associated with decreased cancer risk in certain kinds of cancers, like gastric, colorectal, and breast cancer. And while the researchers underscore that these results apply to their test subjects—all older white women—they also say that the findings are an exciting piece to the puzzle.